Lauren Drewes Daniels
Audio By Carbonatix
I’ll say it: I didn’t want to like Maman. The bakery and cafe is another import from out of state, and we’ve got a city full of good local pastries. But, on a lovely Tuesday afternoon in January, when the sun danced lightly on the small sundeck in front of Maman, I was bamboozled by a pastry.
About Maman
Maman’s mothership is in the SOHO neighborhood of New York City. While it has not earned a James Beard Award or a Michelin nod, it got two backers bigger than either of those: Oprah and Martha. The former put them on her Favorite Things list in 2017, and the latter has a cookie collaboration. Forbes called it a “cafe powerhouse” that is part lifestyle brand. Needless to say, this chic cafe is at home in the Park Cities’ playground of Preston Center, as much as a black Chanel clutch.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
The small cafe has fewer than 10 tables inside and another half dozen on the deck. It’s a French country theme bathed in blue hues. You can grab a table, or it’s easy to grab and go. They do prefer you not hunker down with a laptop in the cafe, though: supposedly, computers are not allowed.
There are about 50 cafe locations across the country, serving pastries, quiche, tartine, omelettes, soups and salads. But we were there for just one thing: the Salted Caramel Pecan Pie Roll, a Dallas exclusive. This roll is a buttery pastry slathered a warm brown icing, topped with a few toasted pecan pieces. Sitting in the case, it looked good, but then it also didn’t. Like, it could really go either way.
The Salted Caramel Pecan Pie Roll
I ordered one to-go, went home and popped it in an air fryer (toaster-oven style) for 4 minutes at 350 degrees. Things got messy quickly. The glaze started to trickle down the sides. The icing on top bubbled, and I thought maybe I burned it.
I did not. I saved it from itself just in time.
I cut into the pastry with a knife and fork because there was no way two hands could handle this. The pastry dough was much softer than the koiugn amann I had already bitten into (more on that in a sec). This roll wants to identify as a liquid, but is stuck as a sticky solid. The salted caramel icing had worked its way into every crevice and blessed airpocket of the pastry. This roll was better than any cafe with 50 locations should be.
Although maybe the magic was from the air fryer. It doesn’t matter; it was dreamy. You’ll never wanna dance with another pecan roll after this one.
The Queen
Maman also has kouign amanns, which is a very controversial position. Sort of like driving a BMW. It’s like, really? You want to make a kouign amann? Here and 50 other cafes? OK. (Once I asked a server about a small kouign amann on a savory dish, and the chef literally came out to have a word with me.)
Lauren Drewes Daniels
I learned about kouign amanns from the Village Baking Company, back when they were a one-bakery show (a long time ago). Then, I grew enamored after meeting Bisous Bisous owner Andrea Meyer. She was introduced to them while traveling in Breton, France, and then returned to the city years later to try to find the baker she’d bought it from (he actually had a street cart). He’d retired, though, so she staged for a week with someone else and brought the pastry to Dallas. Sadly, Bisou Bisou has since closed.
Happy Cows
Kouign amanns are really a celebration of happy cows and happy butter. These pastries are simple: laminated dough, sugar and butter, cooked fast and hot. When done well, it’s the best thing you’ve ever experienced. While these fickle pastries are simple, they’re hard to get right. Most of the magic is from the happy butter, hence its Breton origins. (Butter has its own page on the Brittany tourism page.)
Alas, Maman’s was more of a knock-off: an interpretation of a kouign amann, but not the real deal. It looks like a Gucci, but it’s not. The butter at the bottom of the pastry was like caramel. Well, it probably was caramel. Know this: Never once has anyone had to pick caramel off their back molars after eating a proper kouign amann. Never. Jamais.
Was it a decent pastry for someone who’s not a Breton butter snob? Suppose so. However, I’m not going to load the kids up and take them to try it (I actually did that once), but if we ever drive by, I’ll point and say, “They tried to do a kouign amann.”
Maman, 4004 Villanova St., Saturday – Sunday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Monday – Friday 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
